Jesus Tomb

Jesus Tomb

The Director

Even since Mel Gibson produced his Passion of the Christ, Jewish groups have been up in arms and the one on the fore front was Abraham Foxman of Anti Defamation League.

Daniel Brown came with his Da Vinci Code. and now we have James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovichi coming with a documentary which is intended to disprove the resurrection of Jesus.

The first thing to note when some one wants to introduce an argument is to inquire into their credibility and motivation. Knowing the antagonism that has existed between the conformist Jews and those who parted company to follow Jesus, whose followers embraced the gentiles, which the conformist Jews found offensive.

"In addition to filmmaking, Jacobovici lectures and writes newspaper articles. Jacobovici is fluent in English, French, Hebrew and Romanian. Jacobovici has a B.A. with Honours in Philosophy and Political Science from McGill University and an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Toronto." says the article in Wikipedia

Further it says: "Simcha Jacobovici was born on April 4, 1953, in Petach Tikvah, Israel, 7 miles east of Tel Aviv. He grew up in Montreal, Canada.

From 1978-80, while a graduate student in Toronto, he was the chairperson of the North American Jewish Students' Network; founded and chaired Network Canada, the country's national union of Jewish students; founded the Canadian Universities Bureau of the Canadian Zionist Federation and served on the National Executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1978, he was invited to share the dais with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, when the latter emerged from Camp David to announce the historic peace accord with Egypt. In 1979, Simcha Jacobovici was president of the International Congress of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS). For his Zionist work on North American campuses, in 1980 he was awarded the Knesset Medal. During the same year, he served as special consultant on Nazi war criminals to the Solicitor General of Canada.

Simcha Jacobovici is also co-founder of the Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews (1980) and Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (1985). From 1987-1993, he served on the executive committee of the Toronto Centre for Creative Arts Therapy. In 1993, he served on the Ontario Region Executive of the Organization for Educational Research and Technological Training (ORT). Since 1993, he has served as the president of the Riverdale Jewish Community Centre which he co-founded.

When evaluating Jacobovici's sometimes controversial archaeological claims, it is helpful to know some of the various "schools" or "tendencies" present among scholars and popularizers (such as Jacobovici) of archaeology today: "corroborationists" vs "revisionists" and/or "maximalists" vs "minimalists". As the terms suggest, corroborationists and maximalists will tend to stress the maximum extent to which the findings of archaeology may be viewed as confirming the biblical record, while revisionists and minimalists are impressed by how little archaeological discoveries may confirm traditionally accepted accounts."

So as a politically active Jew, he need not toe the line of Christians.

James Cameron http://time-blog.com/middle_east/2007/02/jesus_tales_from_the_crypt.html

"In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn't resurrected --the cornerstone of Christian faith-- and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene.

No, it's not a re-make of "The Da Vinci Codes'. It's supposed to be true." Time-CNN

It doesn't get bigger than this," said Cameron in a statement. "We've done our homework; we've made the case; and now it's time for the debate to begin."

http://www.drudge.com/news/91044/james-cameron-digs-jesus

"Let's go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in the industrial park in the Talpiyot, a Jerusalem suburb. of Jerusalem. The earth gave way, revealing a 2,000 year old cave with 10 stone caskets. Archologists were summoned, and the stone caskets carted away for examination. It took 20 years for experts to decipher the names on the ten tombs. They were: Jesua, son of Joseph, Mary, Mary, Mathew, Jofa and Judah, son of Jesua.

Israel's prominent archeologist Professor Amos Kloner didn't associate the crypt with the New Testament Jesus. His father, after all, was a humble carpenter who couldn't afford a luxury crypt for his family. And all were common Jewish names. But film-makers Cameron and Jacobovici claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins belong to Jesus and his family.

Ever the showman, (Why does this remind me of the impresario in another movie,"King Kong", whose hubris blinds him to the dangers of an angry and very large ape?) Cameron is holding a New York press conference on Monday at which he will reveal three coffins, supposedly those of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene."

February 2007

Relevance of Christianity

I have written in the February issue of Around the Worl;d,

"Every now and then we get some writers writing articles on Christianity and other matters which are held in high regard by the believers. They pretend that they are informing us, ignorant public, who follow matters of our faith from our clergy without questioning them. Somehow they give the impression that they know better and as in the case of Da Vinci Code, they come out with various strategies to debunk the faith built over centuries. When someone writes without showing any detailed historical evidence, and reasons contrary to the beliefs, then one should take his input with a pinch of salt. In any case, those disposed to believe them will do so, as invariably they are the disaffected people. Those who are staunch believers who do not require any theoretical or historical perspective to reinforce their faith, will remain where they are. That is the reason it is very difficult to persuade those who have already made up their mind."

In this case where Cameron and Jacobovichi claim to tell us more about the Jesus who parted company with Herod, Anas, Caiphas and the Pharasees and the Saducees, whose successors are today's masters of the land in which Jesus had walked and died. Finally, they are opening our eyes that all these 2000 years we have lived a lie. They are the new breed of intellectuals who know more than all our brains can conjure and fellow travellers in the movie industry, like Discovery Channel, whose owners and policy setters could be easily guessed.

I have already said in my above article that :"for one, would like to know that what I believe has a sound foundation in logic and reason. If I trust someone, I should have reason to trust the credibility of the one speaking to me. When fundamentalists interpret the Bible to suit their arguments, I suspect them, as they may either be misguided or have their own agenda. Christ has foretold of false prophets."

Cameron might be a good film director, but he takes money to do his work. He is not a dedicated seeker of truth. Jacobovichi too will have his compulsions to set the record right regarding his race and the injustices it has suffered at the hands of those who seem to say that they follow the teaches of Jesus.

He might really be deserving of credit for his works as mentioned in Wikipedia: "Jacobovici was named Canada's Top Documentary Filmmaker by the Ryerson Review of Journalism. He has received a certificate of Special Merit from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a Genie Award, a Gold Medal from the International Documentary Festival of Nyon, three U.S. Cable Ace Awards, two Gemini awards, an Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia University Award, a Silver Nymph from the Monte Carlo Festival, the Best Documentary from the Jerusalem International Film Festival and the 1995 and 1996 Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Investigative Journalism.""

One has to wait and see, whether he stands a chance to beat Mel Gibson in raking the profits from his venture. In the world of cynics, spiritual matters are just a commodity to profit from. As long as the two gentlemen get their satisfaction of having rubbed salt on the sore skin of the Christians, they will have made their day. We never know what the next few years will bring. If Islamic forces win and US becomes weak like the erstwhile British Empire, then we might again find the Jews fleeing the newly found homeland once again. Is this rubbing of salt the best way of winning friends is another question for them to examine.